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About Dana Krempels, Ph.D.
Expertise
I can answer biology-related questions in the areas of evolution, zoology, botany, genetics, and ecology. But I don't answer homework questions or provide ideas for your science fair projects. So students please do your learning the right way by reading your text assignments and studying!

Experience
At the University of Miami, I teach Evolution and Biodiversity, Botany, Zoology, Genetics, Ecology, and a variety of seminars (e.g., the Biology and Evolution of Human Gender Roles).

Education/Credentials
I have a B.S. in Biology and an A.B. in English from the University of Southern California (1980). I earned my Ph.D. in Biology in the area of evolutionary biology/visual physiology from the University of Miami in 1989.

Past/Present Clients
I am currently an "expert" in both the "Rabbits" and "Wild Animals" categories.

You are here: Experts > Science > Biology > Biology > knee problems in Zulu people

Biology - knee problems in Zulu people

Expert: Dana Krempels, Ph.D. - 11/3/2009

Question
hi there I'm a student in south Africa,i was wondering if you could point me in a direction or help me out with your knowledge,we were asked why traditional zulus don't get knee problems?the only thing i know so far is they put a lot of loading on the knee joint from a young age...like dancing running and sitting in a squat position.
you help will be appreciated

Answer
Dear Kyle,

Environment and genetics both play a role in the reslience of any body part to injury. But I am not aware of any studies that have been done to critically assess the low rate of knee injuries in Zulu people. I did find this:

http://www.malepatternfitness.com/2008/5/8/92812/66193

and have seen a few hypotheses about Zulu's strengthening their knees because they do the traditional dances from an early age. But these are just conjecture. It's possible that early training will strengthen muscles and help prevent the connective tissue from undue wear. But studies are not conclusive.

My educated guess would be that Zulu populations, because of genetic drift (you can read about this phenomenon here: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/genetic-drift.html) and *maybe* some degree of natural selection (possibly sexual selection), have a genetic predisposition for strong knees that are not as easily damaged as the knees of the general human population. If it's really true that Zulu knees don't get injuries as often as other knees. I'm not really even convinced of that, since I've seen no scientific assessment of that, either.

Bottom line: At this point, it's all hypotheses, and these would be very difficult to test in an ethical manner.

Hope that helps.

Dana

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